The family of Israeli woman Moran Yanai is pleading for her safe return, after the 40-year-old was kidnapped fleeing an under-siege music festival in the country’s south.
The jewellery designer had been invited to set up a retail stand at the Supernova Festival in southern Israel, which was stormed in a terrifying surprise attack by Hamas militants on Saturday.
More than 260 bodies have reportedly been recovered from the site outside Kibbutz Re’im.
Yanai’s brother-in-law, former Underbelly actor Dan Mor, spoke to 9News from Tel Aviv, detailing how the family lost contact with her as she tried to flee.
“In the morning, around 7am she rang her father, saying that they’re being shot at … And then I think at 8.30am she spoke to her mum, saying that they’re hiding, they’re being shot at,” he said.
In a race for information as to Yanai’s whereabouts and safety, the family reached out to authorities, and scoured social media.
Several hours later they were alerted to a video posted on an anonymous TikTok account, showing the 40-year-old begging for her life as militants are heard shouting.
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This is the last her family heard from the woman they describe as a “peace-seeking loving artist” and a “pure soul”.
They are channelling their anguish by calling on help from world leaders, in the hope she is brought home safely.
“I don’t lose faith, we have faith. That’s what I’m speaking to you,” Mor said.
Mor is a dual-Australian citizen and would be eligible to apply for a government-backed repatriation flight, however he said he fears his family would not be safe in his old hometown of Sydney, where local leaders have condemned ‘abhorrent’ scenes of anti-Semitism.
“It’s a nightmare that we have to wake up from,” he said.
